Hurricane Helene

[WLJ]

Now a Cat 4
Seeing reports of up to a 20ft storm surge expected
All the Waffle Houses in Tallahassee are closed

Got Ryan Hall up on the 2nd monitor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTnlp7qrTYg

[Angel Eyes]

https://x.com/papitrumpo/status/1839376647247786126

 

[dogmush]

We're at 3 ft above normal high tide in Tampa Bay right now.  Actual high tide is not till midnight, and by then we're expecting 5-8' of storm surge in the bay.

If it gets that high, it'll be pretty bad here.  Thousands of homes flooded out. All the barrier islands in Pinellas and Pasco counties will be underwater.

Up north where it hits? They still have standing dead trees from Idalia. Power will be out up there for better than a week.

The State EOC has been broadcasting on the Amatur radio repeater net that 20ft of storm surge is "unsurvivable" if you are on the coast.

[WLJ]

[dogmush]

Of interest to our enemies in CENTCOM: MacDill AFB is probably going to be under 3-4 ft of water.

[WLJ]

They're saying we could get 6+ inches of rain being pushed up here by Helene and then by Helene itself here in Louisville starting early tomorrow morning.
The 4 day Louder than Life outdoor hard rock/heavy metal festival starts tomorrow. They says they're not cancelling.

[Ben]

We're at 3 ft above normal high tide in Tampa Bay right now.  Actual high tide is not till midnight, and by then we're expecting 5-8' of storm surge in the bay.

If it gets that high, it'll be pretty bad here.  Thousands of homes flooded out. All the barrier islands in Pinellas and Pasco counties will be underwater.

Up north where it hits? They still have standing dead trees from Idalia. Power will be out up there for better than a week.

The State EOC has been broadcasting on the Amatur radio repeater net that 20ft of storm surge is "unsurvivable" if you are on the coast.

Yikes! I'd expect you'll be losing power. Are you at least in an area where the danger of your house flooding is minimal?

[HankB]

My cousin was on her annual vacation at her timeshare on Longboat Key. Pretty strong building, "hurricane proof" windows, and she was on one of the upper floors. But she still had to evacuate late yesterday. Quite a few obstacles got thrown in her way, but she was a flight going home yesterday evening and right now is safe and sound back up in Illinois watching how things transpire on TV.

[dogmush]

Yikes! I'd expect you'll be losing power. Are you at least in an area where the danger of your house flooding is minimal?

Yeah, I live on the east side of Tampa. (Out of town a good bit actually)  and my place drains pretty well. The back third of my property is a drainage pond, and it's filling up, but I got plenty of room yet.

Some trees fell around the neighborhood because the soil is pretty saturated, but from what I saw before sunset nobody's house was hit.

The expensive houses on the beaches though are likely to get pretty wet.

[WLJ]

Eye wall coming ashore

[MechAg94]

My prayers are with everyone over there.  Been through one already this year.  Wasn't too bad for me, but I don't wish that on anyone.

[dogmush]

As predicted for the Tampa Bay area the big issue was storm surge. Lots of flooding, lots of power outages. We got 6ish feet of storm surge here, and like 3.5 of it are still here, draining slowly.

One of my buddies lives down by Hillsborough River, and it crested higher than 10 ft. He has pictures of his neighbor's house with 4ft of water in it.  The barrier islands were completely submerged.

Tampa Bay area is already confirming some deaths. We'll see what happens as the sun comes up and people can check on things.

My Aunt and cousins live up near Lake City, and they were reporting very strong winds and trees coming down by 2200 last night.  Big Bend area is likely demolished.

[RocketMan]

Here in Catawba County NC we're under flash flood warnings until this evening.  High winds and heavy rains.  We're supposed to get up to four inches today.  Lots of power outages in the area.  We're expecting ours to go out almost any time.
Caldwell County to our immediate north has announced a 7:00 PM curfew for tonight.

[Hawkmoon]

Of interest to our enemies in CENTCOM: MacDill AFB is probably going to be under 3-4 ft of water.

Has MacDill recovered from the last hurricane that flattened it? (Was that Katrina?)

[230RN]

     

            Amphibious Grumman "Mallard"

                      Gear up!

[WLJ]

[RocketMan]

Power finally went out after some brownouts and brief blackouts.  Heard the fuse on the 7.5kv line at the corner of the road pop.  Nice bang.  Spent the last hour getting my generator hooked up and running, so we have everything except the heat pump in the house.
Wind is slowing down and rain is slacking off.  Basement is flooding some, but that usually happens when it rains for several days.  I think it's a rising water table issue.

[Angel Eyes]

Treasure Island, FL - boats where they shouldn't be:

https://x.com/TresIslandFL/status/1839627408296526296

[230RN]

Treasure Island, FL - boats where they shouldn't be:

https://x.com/TresIslandFL/status/1839627408296526296

Ummmm.... <ahem>  <koff-koff> maybe the houses aren't where they're supposed to be...

I'm not signing this one so nobody will know who posted it.

[dogmush]

Treasure Island, FL - boats where they shouldn't be:

https://x.com/TresIslandFL/status/1839627408296526296

I saw that earlier today and asked the wife if I find a boat in the yard, how long do I have to wait before I can claim salvage rights on my new boat?

On a more sober note, there's now video coming out from up north where the surge was >15ft.  Many of these buildings are going to be a total loss.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDVfWlMjUcE&t=392s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR6ICT1FmHs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKLdOffd-to

[Ben]

I saw that earlier today and asked the wife if I find a boat in the yard, how long do I have to wait before I can claim salvage rights on my new boat?

On a more sober note, there's now video coming out from up north where the surge was >15ft.  Many of these buildings are going to be a total loss.

How did your neighborhood fare?

[dogmush]

How did your neighborhood fare?

We're good.  Some branches down, but no real damage.  Kept power the hole time.  It's one of the reasons I live on this side of Tampa to be honest.  My Neighborhood has good drainage and is a long way from the coast.

[BobR]

One thing that kind of stood out to me in those videos was although the buildings were essentially destroyed most of them still had their roofs intact. I guess the decades of codes to strap down roofs have helped there, but when it blows the house apart underneath the roof it doesn't help the people much.

bob

[dogmush]

One thing that kind of stood out to me in those videos was although the buildings were essentially destroyed most of them still had their roofs intact. I guess the decades of codes to strap down roofs have helped there, but when it blows the house apart underneath the roof it doesn't help the people much.

bob

That was probably wave damage rather than wind.  Not much hurricane strapping can do against breaking waves in the first floor.

The last decade or so new construction in that zone has been required to be on stilts.  A lot of those more "intact" looking buildings with what looks like a blown out first floor are stilt houses with either a parking pad, or a sacrificial garage underneath.  It'll be interesting to hear how those made out.

[WLJ]

The last decade or so new construction in that zone has been required to be on stilts.  A lot of those more "intact" looking buildings with what looks like a blown out first floor are stilt houses with either a parking pad, or a sacrificial garage underneath.  It'll be interesting to hear how those made out.

Homes along the Ohio river here are built that way